


Mommy's Alright, Daddy's Alright (They Just Seem a Little Weird)

by badwolfchild



Series: Take the Fight from the Kid [2]
Category: Powerless (TV 2017), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Father-Son Relationship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Mother-Son Relationship, Post-Season/Series 01, mentions of past child abandonment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-01-30 14:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12655278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badwolfchild/pseuds/badwolfchild
Summary: It's been a month since the singularity opened over Central City and three weeks since the death of Ray Palmer.Len gets a verbal kick in the ass from an unlikely person, and decides both him and Barry need to get out of Central for a little bit. In Charm City, Barry meets his biological mother, which will bring its own heap of surprises, for Len and Barry both.





	1. I Hide Behind my Mouth and I'm Best Friends with my Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> Yes this is short and a little later than I had said, but I wanted this to be two chapters. Honestly, I didn't even start writing this until a couple weeks ago, I was so burnt out from the first story, I just needed a break. But I will never give up on this series. I've put so much time and effort that I never want to abandon it. This is my child now.
> 
> Knowledge of Powerless isn't needed, I'm only using a couple of the characters.
> 
> More characters will be added as they appear.
> 
> Also, does anyone know the episode of Arrow that Ray came back in??? And how long he stuck around with Team Arrow before he left for Detroit? I didn't watch Arrow that closely and I really don't want to go back and rewatch season 4 just to find out when he comes back. Please help. Please.
> 
> Title of the story is Surrender by Cheap Trick and the chapter title is from The Judge from Twenty One Pilots.

“West. A word please?” David ushers Joe into his office and closes the door behind him. “Now, I’ve tried to be patient, tried not to push any boundaries, but it’s been a month now since that black hole appeared over Central. I need to know what’s going on.”

 

For the past month, Barry has changed drastically. David had seen a streak of lightning head into the black hole, then the hero Firestorm that Joe had told him about followed Barry up there, then nothing. The black hole disappeared and the city started to rebuild. He had tried bringing it up to Barry when he came back to work the next day, but he shut him down completely. He didn’t outright  _ say _ anything about not wanting to talk, but David got the message loud and clear when Barry dodged him at every turn and would duck out of conversations as soon as they were not work related anymore. David figured he would give Barry his space and let the young man come to him when he was ready.

 

But a month later, and nothing has changed. The bags under Barry’s eyes are only getting worse, and David is seriously getting concerned now. He’s not an idiot, he knows it’s Barry that’s been the mysterious helper that’s been rebuilding the city at night one store at a time. 

 

He’s already talked to Ramon, even hired him on as a ‘scientific advisor’ to help make tech for Joe’s anti-metahuman taskforce and to maybe get Barry out of this funk he’s in by having a friend nearby, but it’s not working. Ramon is keeping pretty tight-lipped about everything, saying it’s not his story to tell and that Barry has been living in S.T.A.R. Labs. When asked why, Ramon said that Barry won’t let anyone else help at the labs, not wanting to risk anyone else getting hurt. He got quiet after that and David didn’t have the heart to push anymore, just sent Ramon on his way.

 

That leads him to now, Joe being the only other link to S.T.A.R. Labs that he’s in contact with to get the full story. He has so many questions, what really happened to Eddie Thawne? And where’s Snart in all this? David can’t believe, even in the small time that he knew the man as a father and not a thief, that he would let his son live out of S.T.A.R. Labs and become this bad, mentally and physically. 

 

David sits down across from Joe and takes a breath. “What happened that day, Joe?” He finally asks, not knowing where to start.

 

Joe sighs, leans back in his seat, and runs a hand down his face. He then tells him everything. That Barry actually traveled back in time, the real reason Thawne died, and the black hole. Thawne wasn’t the only person to die that day, they also lost Ronnie Raymond too, and that Barry blames himself for both of their deaths. 

 

“What about Snart?” David finally asks. “He doesn’t seem like the kind of person to let Barry have this much space, I would think that he would be the most against Barry moving out and living in an abandoned lab.”

 

“He  _ was _ against it, the first week or so, then…” Joe clears his throat and starts again. “Do you remember the news from Starling, or I guess Star City now?”

 

David thinks for a moment. “A lot was going on at the time,” Then it hits him. “The explosion at Palmer Tech.”

 

Joe nods. “Ray’s death hit him hard. Len had mentioned to me once before that Ray was his best friend, and that he didn’t have that many regular friends to start with. He was happy they got reconnected, they were talking almost everyday, then this happened, and on top of Wells being out of the picture and Henry still in Iron Heights, well, it’s clear where Barry got his habit of pushing people away from.”

 

David knows what he has to do, and he doesn’t like it. The only person that can get through to Barry is Snart, so it looks like he’s making a house call tonight.

 

~~~~~~~

 

David double checks the address that Joe had given him with the building in front of him. It looks normal enough, not high class, but not a dump either. He spots Snart’s bike outside, so at least he knows the man is home, and he starts his trek up to the third floor. He normally has no problem with elevators, but he’s heard multiple horror stories from Barry and Ramon about it, so he doesn’t feel like taking a chance on it.

 

He heads down the well-lit hall and stops in front of door fifty-two. He has no doubt that this is Snart’s door and that he hasn’t left his apartment in some time, considering all the newspapers piled up outside the door.

 

He gathers all the papers under one arm and knocks on the door. When there’s no answer he tries again, more persistent this time.

 

This time the door swings open. “Joe, ‘ve tol’ you- oh, it’s you.” Snart looks… about how David expected someone that’s grieving to look. His hair’s grown out a bit, he hasn’t shaved in weeks, and he has bags under his eyes that rival Barry’s. Also, David can smell the alcohol on him from a couple feet away.

 

“Thanks, way to make a guy feel special. Got a thing against printed news?” David gestures to all the papers under his arm.

 

“Haven’t you heard, print is dead.” Snart says flatly. “Look, whaddya want? Did Joe send ya?”

 

“No, I came on my own. Can I come in so we don’t have this conversation out in the hall?”

 

Snart thinks for a second, then moves aside, letting David in. He’s not sure what he was expecting, but this is pretty close. The curtains are drawn, only letting a small crack of light in, and the place is a pigsty - and that’s putting it mildly. Dirty dishes on every surface, empty bottles of beer everywhere else, and the flies are having a field day in the kitchen where the garbage hasn’t been taken out.

 

David dumps the papers on the floor by the door where all the mail is piled up, and goes to the other side of the room, while Snart collapses on the couch and takes a healthy swing of what looks to be straight vodka from the bottle. He winces and groans when David opens the curtains and the window to let some air in.

 

David waits to see if Snart will say anything, but he only glares at him for opening the window. “This place is a dump.” David finally says.

 

“What, are the CCPD the cleanliness police now?” Snart spits out.

 

David pauses and thinks how to go about this a different way. Him and Snart have never been close, hell the only civil conversation they’ve had was at Joe’s that one time. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He settles on.

 

Snart snorts at that. “Is that the only thing people can say to me now? I’m tired of people treating me like I’m made of glass. Queen and Felicity kept blowing up my phone after I left the memorial service to the point that I had to put it on silent, I had to kick Lise and Mick out ‘cause they kept tip toeing around me, Joe’s been knocking on my door every other day, and Stein’s left me about half a dozen Shiva baskets.” He props his feet up on the coffee table and turns the tv on, ignoring David.

 

David, in a flash of anger, unplugs the tv. “Fine, you don’t want people coddling you? Then here, get your shit together. You wanted to be a good father? Better than your own? Then start acting like it. Yes, it’s horrible that you lost your friend and I’m not undermining that, but your son is spiraling and all you’re doing is sitting around, getting drunk, and wallowing in self pity.”

 

Snart seems unaffected by everything David just said. “You done?” He asks with a raised brow. “The kid doesn’t need me. He has Joe and the rest of his friends. In fact, he’s better off without me, since everyone I care about gets hurt or dead in the end.” Snart mutters the last part and David’s sure he wasn’t suppose to hear it.

 

David sighs and clears a spot on the couch next to him. “You’re wrong. Barry’s pushed everyone away. Last I heard, Caitlin got a job at Mercury Labs through Hartley, Ramon’s been working at the station as a part of West’s anti-metahuman task force, West thinks he’s giving Barry space to work things out on his own, and I haven’t seen Iris around at all since the memorial for Eddie Thawne. And listen to me, there was nothing that you could have done to change what had happened to Palmer. It was just a freak accident and not your fault.”

 

Snart fiddles with the remote in his hands. “I could have told him to stay.” Snart whispers. “The last time I saw him, I had this bad feeling in my chest, one that I’ve had before. I just, I wanted to tell him to stay, and if I had, he would still be here, being his usual dorky self.”

 

“Alright then, say he was here, who’s to say that that same explosion wouldn’t have happened here?”

 

“I would have been there.” Snart raises his voice. 

 

“So you could get caught in the explosion and die too?” David shoots back.

 

“No, goddamn it!” Snart throws the remote across the room, where it hits the wall and shatters. “It never would have happened in the first place!  _ I’m _ the one that’s suppose to look after him! He’s my best friend and it’s my responsibility to keep him safe and I  _ failed!  _ He’s dead because of  _ me!” _

 

David takes everything in and waits for Snart to finish. “Are you done?” Snart only glares, so David takes it as a cue to continue. “Do you have a couple PhDs stashed away that nobody knows about?”

 

Snart scoffs and rolls his eyes. “You know I didn’t even finish high school, so why are you bringing it up?”

 

“Then how would you have prevented the explosion? From what I read about it, he was working on some type of experiment at Ramon’s level of smart. All it was was a freak accident that nobody could have predicted.” David could tell that Snart is starting to tune him out and sighs. “Look, I know this is hard, but it’s not your job to look out for everyone and keep them safe from everything. Sometimes things that are out of your control will happen and you’re just going to have to accept that and move on.” David’s not sure how much of his words have gotten through to Snart, but by the spaced out look on Snart’s face, the other man is done talking for now. He heaves himself off the couch to his feet, patting Snart on the knee as he does so. 

 

David works in silence as he grabs a trash bag from under the sink and collects all the garbage from around the apartment, straightening things up as he does so.

 

“Barry was small for his age.” Snart says from his spot on the couch an hour later, still staring at nothing.

 

David pauses washing the dishes and looks over his shoulder at Snart. He doesn’t say anything, just let’s Snart continue talking.

 

“His mother left him with me when he was only a week old. He was still this tiny little life that I had to take care of and I was scared out of my mind. Mick wasn’t home and I had no way to reach him, so I was all by myself with a newborn that had just woken up and started screeching his little lungs out. Thinking back now, I should have just called Henry, but I was  _ so _ freaked out that I had done something wrong I just panicked. I had to do something, so I just wrapped him in a coat and ran the couple miles to Henry’s in pouring down rain in only a t-shirt.” Snart pauses for a beat. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not good at just accepting the things that are out of my control. But I guess you’re right. I need to grow up and move on. Raymond is gone, but Barry isn’t.”

 

Singh nods as he dries his hands. “Whatever you need, I’ll gladly help where I can. Within reason, of course.”

 

Snart smirks for the first time this whole visit, and David would never admit it aloud, but he missed the look on the other’s face. “Of course. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go shower and change.”

 

Snart gets up a little unsteadily, still not completely sober. “Good, I didn’t want to say anything, but I’ve been getting complaints from the neighbors, they think something died in here.” David hears a chuckle and gets flipped off for that. “But Snart, in all seriousness,” Snart pauses, but doesn’t turn around. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.”

 

Snart stays silent and David almost feels like he overstepped his bounds, when Snart nods minutely. “I prefer Len. Snart is my father, or what cops and criminals call me.”

 

David nods, even though Len started walking away. “Len it is.” He says under his breath after Len disappeared into the bathroom.

 

~~~~~~~

 

Len makes himself comfortable with his feet up on the console in S.T.A.R. Labs late the next night. He has to admit, he admires Singh for having the guts to stand up to him and kick his butt into gear. He’s embarrassed by how much he really let himself spiral after Ray’s death. If he sat and let himself think about  _ why _ Ray’s death hit him so hard, it would probably lead to feelings that he would rather keep hidden, feelings that are  _ more _ than just friendship.

 

But Ray’s dead. 

 

There’s no point in going down that road. Digging up feelings that would just make him hurt more, make him regret never trying harder in the past for something more.

 

It would be stupid. Ray’s gone and nothing can change that. All he can do is follow Singh’s advice and move on. Like he said before, Ray may be dead, but Barry isn’t.

 

Speaking of Barry, he’s finally returned to the lab, if the gust of wind and the reappearance of the flash suit back on the mannequin is anything to go by.

 

“What are you doing here? I thought I told you I didn’t want anyone else helping around here, it’s too dangerous.” Barry doesn’t beat around the bush.

 

Len links his hands around the back of his head, hair freshly cut. “Does it look like I’m helping? I just wanted somewhere different to eat my dinner, is that a crime now?” He digs into the bag of Big Belly Burger and tosses a burger to Barry, who catches it on reflex.

 

“Well, technically, by  _ being _ in S.T.A.R. Labs you’re trespassing, so yeah, eating your dinner here is a crime.” Barry tosses the burger onto the console, not giving it a second glance.

 

Len unwraps his own burger and takes a bite. “By that logic, then you running a secret vigilante headquarters in here is also trespassing, so I won’t tell if you don’t.” Len can’t help but add a wink, hoping to get Barry to at least crack a smile.

 

It doesn’t work. “Dad, seriously, what are you doing here?”

 

“Pull up a chair, you look tired. Relax and eat your burger.” Len tries not to focus on the bags under Barry’s eyes as he says that. No wonder Singh caved and came to him, a part of him wonders how long Barry’s been looking like this.

 

Barry, not so shockingly, ignores everything he said and keeps standing. “I’m not hungry.”

 

“Too bad that wasn’t a request, Kid. Sit and eat the burger, you look like you lost weight.”

 

The kid still has some common sense rolling around in that head of his, because he only sighs as he rolls up the sleeves to his S.T.A.R. Labs sweater and does as he’s told, sitting on the other side of the console. He begins by nibbling at the burger, before something kicks in for him and he starts to wolf down the burgers one by one.

 

After he finishes off the first bag, Len reaches down beside him and places another bag in front of Barry.

 

“Has it helped?” Len asks after Barry finishes eating. At Barry’s confused look he clarifies. “Rebuilding the whole city by yourself. Has it helped you work through whatever is going on in that head of yours?”

 

“I’m fine.” Barry stresses. 

 

“Yes, because people who are the picture of perfect mental health go around in the middle of the night and rebuild cities all by themselves.” Barry looks like he’s about two seconds away from darting out of the room and Len sighs. “I’m sorry, that was harsh. I’m just trying to say that I’m worried. Everyone is.” And now for the hard part. “That’s why I think it would be a good idea for us to get out of town for a couple weeks.”

 

Barry scoffs. “You can’t be serious. I can’t just up and leave, I have work.”

 

“Already talked to Singh, he thinks it’s a great idea.”

 

“But, what about Flash duties? What if something happens and I’m not here to help?”

 

“The CCPD can handle things on their own for a little while, they  _ have _ done it before you were around. And if things  _ do _ get out of hand, like some type of meta attack, you can always run back to Central in two minutes flat.”

 

Barry hesitates as he tries to think up another excuse on why he can’t go, before sighing and giving up. “Fine. Where are we going?”

 

“Charm City.”

 

“ _ Charm City? _ As in Charm City,  _ Ohio? _ Why are we going to  _ Ohio _ of all places?”

 

That’s about the reaction he was expecting. Ohio isn’t exactly the go to summer vacation spot. Len studies his nails and tries to act as nonchalant as he can. “Just thought after a year of you begging me, you might want to meet your mother. But if that’s not the case…”

 

That got Barry’s attention. “You mean my biological mom? But I thought you never wanted me to meet her. Hell, I don’t even know her name.”

 

Len hesitates as he thinks how to word what he says next. “I may have…  _ exaggerated _ the truth a bit. She isn’t as bad as how I’ve made her seem, Jackie and I just get along like oil and water.”

 

“Her name is Jackie? What’s her last name?”

 

“So you can google her like every other kid in your generation? Sorry, you’ll just need to meet her the old fashioned way. Now get packing, we leave tomorrow morning, bright and early.” With that, Len kicks back from the console and heads out, he has some packing of his own to do. And maybe some Xanax to pick up if he has to play nice with Jackie for the next two weeks.


	2. Staring at the sun here we’re all the same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, first I say this is going to be a one-shot, then it becomes a two-shot, now it's going to be three chapters. But I'm going to try and keep it at three chapters. This just keeps running away from me and gets longer and longer.
> 
> Chapter title from the song Someone to Someone by Ross Copperman

Barry groans and flops into his seat after storing his duffle bag in the storage compartment above him. “When you said bright and early, I didn’t think you meant it literally.”

 

“Quit whining, it’s only seven-thirty.” Len says as puts his own bag away and sits down across from Barry.

 

“And another thing, why are we taking a train? I can get us there in seconds as opposed to sitting here for,” Barry glances at the ticket. “Seventeen hours.”

 

“You need to slow down a little, we aren’t in any rush.  _ And _ I would rather  _ not _ have all my clothes become a pile of ash by the end of this.”

 

Barry sighs and rests his head against the window as he crosses his arms. “‘m getting better at that.” He grumbles under his breath, but ultimately gives up. He knows this is a battle he won’t be winning any time soon.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Len checks his watch and sees it’s a little past one in the afternoon. Barry’s been quiet the whole time and only put his phone down once so far to have lunch when a trolley with food passed by an hour ago. Len’s tried striking up conversation, but so far he’s only gotten grunts and one word answers from the kid. 

 

Getting fed up with this, Len snatches Barry’s phone from his hands and stuffs it in his pocket, but not before glancing at the screen. “Hey, give me my phone back!”

 

“For the last time, Central doesn’t need you babysitting it 24/7. Singh said if anything came up that was out of their hands, he would call. You don’t need to be stalking all the news feeds.”

 

“But-”

 

“No buts.” Len interrupts him. “This is a  _ vacation. _ That means you disconnect from work, not go looking for it.” Barry has that look on his face like he wants to fight back, but ends up rolling his eyes and slouching. God, with all the glaring and eye rolling, Len wants to pinch himself to make sure he didn’t fall into some time loop where he’s dealing with a teenage Lisa all over again. Len pulls a deck of cards out of his pocket and places it on the table between them. “Know any games?”

 

This seems to peak Barry’s interest. “I’m assuming you don’t mean go fish?”

 

“Great, what do you wanna learn first?”

 

Barry, as expected, is great at blackjack, but terrible at poker. After all this time, kid still can’t tell a bluff to save his life.

 

~~~~~~~

 

The rest of the train ride goes a bit smoother after that, Len never got Barry to talk about how he’s doing, but at least he’s not completely checked out anymore, so progress.

 

At around eleven Barry’s laid out across the bench fast asleep with his hockey jacket bunched up to act as a pillow. Len folds the table down and shrugs out of his own coat and draps it over Barry. He runs a hand through the kid’s hair and that seems to get him to relax some, Barry needs all the sleep he can get.

 

~~~~~~~

 

Len regrets having to wake Barry up around 1:30am, but the train’s finally made it, and there’s no way that Len can possibly carry Barry  _ and _ their bags all the way to the hotel.

 

Barry makes a noise akin to that of a dying whale, and rubs his eyes as he sits up, his bed head at its worse. He just squints at Len, swaying a little.

 

“We’re here, kiddo. Get your coat on. Quicker we are, quicker we get to the hotel and can sleep in a real bed.” Barry groans in reply, but slowly does as he’s told. In the time it takes to get the jacket on and zipped up, Len has already gotten both their bags down from the overhead area. For the fastest man alive, he sure can be slow when it’s convenient. 

 

Barry throws his hood on and shivers. “Why’s it so cold? Didn’t the weather get the memo that it’s summer now?”

 

Figuring Barry’s not going to be any help, Len just takes both their bags and gestures at his coat forgotten on the bench where it slipped off Barry when he sat up. “Just wear mine, and we’re further up north in the middle of the night, of course it’s gonna be a little chilly.”

 

Barry pulls on the peacoat and crosses his arms to get warm as they stop in the alley and wait for the people in front of them to get off the train. A woman about Barry’s age is struggling to get her bag down in front of him. Barry’s whole hero thing must be rubbing off on him, because he sets his own bags down to help her out. 

 

And what a mistake that turned out to be. She has way too a bubbly personality for this time of night, rivaling Barry’s when he’s at his happiest. (She even dresses a bit like Barry, with the whole sweater/button down combo. Seriously? What is with kids these days and dressing like they’re kindergarten teachers?)

 

“Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I’ve just had the worst day ever. First, I almost forgot my wallet in the uber to the train station, then my phone died the first hour on the train and of course my charger chose now to break, so I’ve been without a phone for the past thirteen hours, and-”

 

Len holds up a hand to get her to stop. “I think I got the whole picture. It’s no problem, just doing my good deed for the day.”

 

Barry snorts behind him and Len resists the urge to elbow him. He’ll just wait until they’re at the hotel and not in a public place. “Anyway, thanks again. Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Emily Locke.”

 

She holds out her hand to shake and Len returns it. “Leonard. The brat behind me is my son, Barry.”

 

The line starts moving again and they all manage to finally get off the train. Unfortunately, the chatty woman also heads to the pick up area, and because the universe decided it really had something against him today, there is not one taxi in sight.

 

“So, visiting or local?” She asks as they wait.

 

Barry, the little traitor, got his phone out of the pocket of Len’s coat and has his earbuds in, leaving Len to be the only one to hold up a conversation with Emily. “Visiting. The kid’s mom lives in town.”

 

Len, feeling a little vindictive, yanks one of Barry’s earbuds out. “Ow, Dad! What was that for?”

 

“Your phone can wait. Why don’t you be a human and join this conversation?”

 

Emily waves him off. “It’s fine, I remember how boring all the adult talk can be when I was his age. What grade is he in?”

 

Barry rolls his eyes and sticks his earbuds back in, and Len can’t help but chuckle. “He’s actually twenty-six, but the more tired he is, the more he seems to revert in age. Doesn’t help that he still has a baby-face, right, kiddo?” Len elbows Barry, but Barry just goes on ignoring him.

 

“Sorry, I’m not the best at guessing ages.”

 

“Happens all the time.”

 

And Len thought that was the end of the conversation… Until she started talking to him again. He holds back a sigh as she says, “I’m local. Well, local as in I just moved here for a job. I’m from Central originally. My dad runs a flower shop and I was visiting him. Luckily his shop is on the outskirts of the city and didn’t get damaged when that black hole opened up over the city. First, real superheroes start showing up, then an actual black hole, Central just keeps getting stranger.” 

 

Len glances at Barry at the mention of the singularity, but luckily he’s still fully paying attention to his music. He’s extremely grateful when a taxi finally pulls up, bringing a quick end to the current topic. He gestures for her to go. “You should go, we can wait for another.”

 

“No, it’s fine. A friend from work said she would pick me up. She should be here any minute now.”

 

Barry finally turned his music off and seems to be a little more alert now. “You sure? You said your phone was dead, wanna borrow mine?”

 

“No, I insist. She’s just running a little late. She’s a single mom, she’s probably just making sure everything is set with her daughter.”

 

The taxi driver is starting to get inpatient, so with one last asking if she’s sure, Len and Barry get into the taxi and head to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

 

~~~~~~

 

Barry takes a deep breath as he straightens out his dad’s old leather coat as he waits for Len to finish getting ready in the hotel bathroom. It’s probably a little impractical since it’s only eleven in the morning and already eighty degrees out, but he figures he’s going to be inside most of the day anyway, and if he’s being honest it makes him feel a little more confident.

 

And he could use all the confidence he could get.

 

As they walk down the street, Barry can’t help but keep being reminded of the vision of Jackie that he saw when he was traveling through time.

 

“She was crying.” He says out loud.

 

“What?”

 

“Jackie. When she left me on your doorstep as a baby, she was crying.”

 

Len tilts his head at him. “How do you know that? Wait,” His dad stops and grabs his arm. “Did you time travel again?” He whispers.

 

“No, of course not.” They step off to the side to a secluded part of the sidewalk where they won’t be overheard. “When Thawne was showing me how to go back in time to save my mom, I saw things that happened in my past and future. One of the images was of a blonde woman crying as she left a baby on a porch.” The two start walking again and Barry debates bringing up the next thing. “There was also a note left with me.”

 

Len nods. “There was.”

 

“Well, what did it say?” Barry asks urgently. 

 

Len sighs. “Listen, kid, some things are better heard in person than written in a letter.”

 

“But-”

 

Len cuts him off. “Hey, we’re here anyway, why don’t you just drop it for now?”

 

Barry seriously doesn’t want to drop it, but his dad’s obviously done talking. Barry was so focused on his nerves that he didn’t notice Len’s until now. He’s only seen him this nervous a handful of times, but by the way Len keeps clenching his jaw and keeping his hands balled up in his pockets, he might be even more nervous than Barry.

 

Barry’s shocked when they walk into Wayne Security, but his dad is quick to point out that Jackie only works as a secretary in the Research Department.

 

It’s a little worrisome how easy it was to get past the security checkpoint, and Barry voices those concerns as they ride to the thirtieth floor in the elevator.

 

Len scoffs. “Please, I haven’t been to a place that I can’t break into.”

 

Barry often forgets that his dad is an internationally wanted thief, but it’s instances like this that unfortunately remind him.

 

The elevator dings and the doors slide open to a regular looking office. There are desks spread out in the middle of the room with glass walls around the edges of the room showing some offices and conference rooms. There’s a pair of doors that go out to a balcony where Barry could see tables set up where there are a few people out there eating lunch. As they step out of the elevator Barry spots a lab off to the left, but his dad drags him away before he could get a good look inside.

 

“We’re not here for a sightseeing tour.”

 

His dad drags him to the other end of the office where they get stopped by a familiar face. “Leonard, Barry, what are you doing here?” The woman from the train, Emily Barry thinks her name is, is standing in front of them and looking extremely confused. “Wait, how did you get in here? You don’t have any visitor badges.”

 

“Umm,” Barry bites his lip as he glances at Len, hoping he can do his sweet-talking trick he always does to get people to trust him, but he’s too busy looking past Emily at someone.

 

~~~~~~

 

Len stops listening to Emily as soon as he spots Jackie across the room. There’s no turning back now as he pushes past Emily and starts to head straight for Jackie. He faintly hears Barry apologizing on his behalf, but ignores the two. Jackie looks older than he remembers, but she still has the same blue eyes and blonde hair that had drawn him to her in the first place thirty years ago.

 

She sets a folder down on a desk and looks up, spotting him immediately. She narrows her eyes at him and marches straight up to him.

 

“Jackie, it’s been a while. I see you’ve really moved up in the world without me around to hold you back.” She slaps him across the face, causing the whole room to go silent. Leave it to Jackie to cause a scene. Len tastes blood in his mouth and nods, laughing a bit. “Yeah, I probably deserved that.” He presses a finger against his lip and finds blood when he pulls back.

 

“You complete and utter  _ jackass. _ You have some nerve showing your face here after everything you said to me.” She growls as she crosses her arms.

 

Len scoffs in disbelief. “What  _ I _ said to  _ you?! _ Yes, because you were a complete angel the  _ whole f-” _ Len takes a deep breath to compose himself, and sticks his hands in his pockets. This is why he didn’t want to see Jackie again, she’s always been able to get under his skin in just the right way, knows all the right buttons to push. “Listen, I would  _ much _ rather be literally  _ anywhere _ else right now, but I’m not here for me, I’m here for my son. Our son.”

 

She looks past him and her voice softens, all the fight having left her immediately. “Is that him?”

 

He glances over his shoulder and spots Barry not-so-subtly watching them as he talks to Emily. “Yeah.”

 

A small smile grows on her face. “Is he wearing that old leather jacket of yours?”

 

“Unfortunately. The kid snatched it one night and I didn’t have the heart to take it back.” Len motions with his head for Barry to come over to them. He had obviously been watching them closely since he runs right over. “Barry, this is your mother, Jackie. Jackie, our son Bartholomew, but he prefers to go by Barry.”

 

It’s stiff and awkward before they settle on a handshake.

 

Jackie seems to finally notice that everyone at their desks are watching them. She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Alright, show’s over. Get back to work, losers.” She gestures for the two of them to follow her. Barry glances at him asking silently if he should go too and Len only nods, motioning for Barry to go first.

 

She leads them into a corner office, where a blonde man in an expensive suit is chatting on the phone. She snatches the phone out of his hand and hangs it up. “I need the room, Van. Get out.”

 

“But this is my office, and as your-”

 

“Don’t care, get lost.” She glares at him and he folds easily.

 

He straightens out his suit as he stands. “Just for the record, I’m not leaving because you told me to, I just remembered that I need to go grab something.”

 

Len doesn’t bother to hide his smirk as the man scurries out of the office, shutting the door behind him.

 

~~~~~~

 

Barry’s eyes widen at the name on the desk. ‘Van Wayne’, as in this guy that Jackie just chased out is related to  _ Bruce Wayne, _ the man whose company they are currently standing in?! No wonder Jackie and his dad used to be together, they both have nerves of steel. Not to mention, Jackie might just be more intimidating than Len, considering she was able to get Leonard ‘cool-as-a-cucumber’ Snart flustered in a matter of minutes. The only other people Barry knows that are able to do that are Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mick.

 

Barry can’t stand the silence anymore and starts to shift back and forth. “It’s, um, nice to finally meet you.”

 

Jackie’s glare melts as she looks away from Len and to Barry. “It’s nice to meet you too, Barry.” She then goes back to glaring at Len. “I just wish Leonard here would have  _ called _ first before showing up out of the blue at my job.”

 

Len scoffs. “And give you a head start to flee the state? Sorry, Jacks, I wasn’t feeling that generous this week.”

 

“No, you dick, so I could-”

 

The door to the office swings open and little feet come running in, interrupting Jackie. She looks like she’s eight or nine, has blonde hair, and is wearing little red framed glasses. “Mommy, Mommy! I heard you fighting and I wanted to make sure you were okay!” The little girl stops beside Jackie and grips her leg, now noticing Barry and Len in the room. “Who are you? Why are you being mean to my mommy?”

 

Another woman with short, curly hair and wearing a fuzzy cat sweater comes running to the doorway of the office out of breath. “I’m so sorry, Jackie. I turned my back for a second and she just bolted.” 

 

Jackie sighs and rests a hand on top of the girl’s head. If she’s Jackie’s daughter, does that make her his sister? Has Barry been an older brother for almost a decade now and not known?

 

“It’s fine, Wendy. Kids run, it’s a thing they do. You can go now, I’ll watch her from here.” The woman, Wendy, nods and closes the door. 

 

Len smirks at the running bit and sneaks a glance at Barry. “Cute kid.” Len finally speaks for the first time since his outburst out near the desks. “How old is she?”

 

“Nine. She was also born nine months after the last time you visited.” This may be one of the first times Barry has seen his dad completely speechless. Jackie shifts, extremely uncomfortable for the first time in this conversation. “Leonard,  _ this _ is why I wish you have called earlier. This is my daughter.  _ Our _ daughter, Ruby.”

**Author's Note:**

> I checked the wiki for Powerless and they never say where Charm City is located. But the wiki did say and I quote,  
> "Charm City's location is unclear. In "Emily Dates a Henchman", the city has offices of California Bank and Trust. However, in "Cold Season", it's two timezones away from Gotham City and Metropolis, suggesting it is in the Mountain Time Zone.  
> Establishing shots use scenery from Cleveland, Ohio, specifically the view of Main Avenue Bridge and the north bank of the Cuyahoga River."
> 
> So I figured what the hell, let's have it in Ohio. Star City is already in California, let's shake things up a bit.
> 
> As always, my tumblr is badwolfchild.


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